The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1946 in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It is a professional classical ensemble whose main performance venue is the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, where it has held a residency since July 2004. Under music director Kazuyoshi Akiyama, who was appointed in 1964, the orchestra expanded its classical repertoire to include late Romantic, modern, and contemporary works, premiering more than 200 pieces. These premieres include Toru Takemitsu's Requiem for Strings (1957) and the Japanese premieres of Helmut Lachenmann's opera Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (2000) and John Adams's A Flowering Tree (2008). Subsequent music directors include Hubert Soudant, who was appointed in 2004, and Jonathan Nott, who took the role in 2014. In addition to performing at the New National Theatre Tokyo and Suntory Hall, the orchestra has a quasi-franchise agreement with Niigata City, performing regularly at the Niigata City Performing Arts Center. Notable recordings by the orchestra include soundtracks for the films Godzilla – Die Rückkehr des Monsters (1984) and Die Legende der Prinzessin Kaguya (2013).
